Giuliani Doubts N.R.A. Arcade In Times Square Would Survive

By JULIAN E. BARNES

Published: May 23, 2000

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said yesterday that he did not think a theme restaurant and shoot'em-up arcade run by the National Rifle Association could realistically survive in Times Square.

Leaders of the gun lobbying organization said on Friday that they wanted to open a restaurant and gift shop much like Planet Hollywood and ESPN Zone, except with firearms as the theme. The restaurant would feature wild game, as would the arcade, the association said.

Democratic lawmakers and gun control advocates have condemned the proposal, saying it is an N.R.A. attempt to interest children in guns.

Mr. Giuliani said there was no need for him to take a position on the propriety of the restaurant, because he said he believed that it would never open. ''Well, I don't think it is going to happen, I don't see how that is really realistic, that they are going to open a store on Times Square,'' Mr. Giuliani said. ''It is unrealistic in light of all the resources that would be necessary and all of the plans that I know for Times Square.''

He was more explicit at a reception honoring the Walt Disney Company's efforts to revive the square, saying: ''Now, everyone wants to be in Times Square, even the N.R.A. Don't worry, it won't happen.''

Wayne LaPierre, the N.R.A.'s executive vice president, said the association would sue if the city tried to stop the restaurant. He said the mayor was mistaken in his analysis in that millions of sport shooters would visit the restaurant. He said that despite the high rent, the venture would be profitable.

Giuliani administration officials said that since the store had no intention of selling guns, there was little legally that they could do to stop it. But the mayor's aides said his remarks reflected his belief that an N.R.A. restaurant could not make enough money to survive in a neighborhood where ground-floor rents top $7 million a year.

Brendan Sexton, president of the Times Square Business Improvement District, disagreed with the mayor's view of restaurant economics. He said that space was available and that arcade and theme restaurants had worked in Times Square.

But Mr. Sexton said he did not want the N.R.A. to come to Times Square. At a news conference with Senator Charles E. Schumer, the New York Democrat, he said he hoped landlords in the neighborhood would not rent to the association.

Mr. Schumer said that if the N.R.A. did move into Times Square, he would push the city or the state to revoke any tax breaks that the property owners receive.